Through extensive primary source analysis and independent analysis, this report seeks to answer a number of important questions regarding the state of China’s armed forces. The authors found that the PLA is keenly aware of its many weaknesses and is vigorously striving to correct them. Although it is only natural to focus on the PLA’s growing capabilities, understanding the PLA’s weaknesses—and its self-assessments—is no less important.

How will China use its increasing military capabilities in the future? China faces a complicated security environment with a wide range of internal and external threats. Rapidly expanding international interests are creating demands for the People's Liberation Army (PLA) to conduct new missions ranging from protecting Chinese shipping from Somali pirates to evacuating citizens from Libya. The most recent Chinese defense white paper states that the armed forces must "make serious preparations to cope with the most complex and difficult scenarios . . . so as to ensure proper responses . . . at any time and under any circumstances." Based on a conference co-sponsored by Taiwan's Council of Advanced Policy Studies, RAND, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and National Defense University, The People's Liberation Army and Contingency Planning in China brings together leading experts from the United States and Taiwan to examine how the PLA prepares for a range of domestic, border, and maritime...

In late 2015, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) initiated reforms that have brought dramatic changes to its structure, model of warfighting, and organizational culture, including the creation of a Strategic Support Force (SSF) that centralizes most PLA space, cyber, electronic, and psychological warfare capabilities. The reforms come at an inflection point as the PLA seeks to pivot from land-based territorial defense to extended power projection to protect Chinese interests in the "strategic frontiers" of space, cyberspace, and the far seas. Understanding the new strategic roles of the SSF is essential to understanding how the PLA plans to fight and win informationized wars and how it will conduct information operations.

China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) has embarked on its most wide-ranging and ambitious restructuring since 1949, including major changes to most of its key organizations. The restructuring reflects the desire to strengthen PLA joint operation capabilities- on land, sea, in the air, and in the space and cyber domains. The reforms could result in a more adept joint warfighting force, though the PLA will continue to face a number of key hurdles to effective joint operations, Several potential actions would indicate that the PLA is overcoming obstacles to a stronger joint operations capability. The reforms are also intended to increase Chairman Xi Jinping's control over the PLA and to reinvigorate Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organs within the military. Xi Jinping's ability to push through reforms indicates that he has more authority over the PLA than his recent predecessors. The restructuring could create new opportunities for U.S.-China military contacts.

The product of a 1998 RAND conference, this collection discusses the People's Liberation Army. It covers the non-hardware side of the PLA's modernization and examines the critical software side, including civil-military relations, professionalism, logistics, training, doctrine, and more.

There are a few books on all naval weapon systems for all nations in the world. These are limited in many Chinese technologies, with not a single entry on several important areas such as communications, weapon integration/ control and sonars. There are other excellent books on PLAN organization, high level assumed goals and political structure, but little on actual ship combat system details except possibly in limited areas. This book traces, in detail, the long path from a coastal defense force of obsolete ships and crude systems to the current complex unique new construction coastal missile catamarans and AEGIS-like large DDGs with indigenous Vertical launch weapons and long range cruise missiles. In war gaming or operational tactics, many tables with frequencies, loadouts and ranges are useful, especially if unclassified. With this book, all of these platforms and systems are in one source. The book is divided into sections on frigates, destroyers, missile destroyers, patrol craft, naval aircraft and helicopters, nuclear and diesel submarines. Antisubmarine, anti-air, antisurface and mine warfare, amphibs and auxuiliaries are in their own areas. Even state-owned paramilitary vessels are covered. Hull, machinery and electrical and deperming are also addressed. This book prompts the reader to discern PLAN areas of weakness as well as threats based upon the sum of tables, rather than merely accept an author’s conclusions. The enigmatic PLAN aircraft carrier preparations in pilots, shipyard and battle group basing will be noted. The only fact pending is when the keels will be laid in Shanghai and the actual tonnage.

In recent years there have been reports of actions purportedly taken by People's Liberation Army (PLA) units without civilian authorization, and of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) civilian leaders seeking to curry favor with the military—suggesting that a nationalistic and increasingly influential PLA is driving more assertive Chinese policies on a range of military and sovereignty issues. To many experienced PLA watchers, however, the PLA remains a "party-army" that is responsive to orders from the CCP. PLA Influence on China's National Security Policymaking seeks to assess the "real" relationship between the PLA and its civilian masters by moving beyond media and pundit speculation to mount an in-depth examination and explanation of the PLA's role in national security policymaking. After examining the structural factors that shape PLA interactions with the Party-State, the book uses case studies to explore the PLA's role in foreign policy crises. It then assesses the PLA's role in China's territorial disputes and in military interactions with civilian government and business, exploring the military's role in China's civil–military integration development strategy. The evidence reveals that today's PLA does appear to have more influence on purely military issues than in the past—but much less influence on political issues—and to be more actively engaged in policy debates on mixed civil-military issues where military equities are at stake.